An arrangement and method for assessing and diagnosing the operating state of a
device under test in the presence of a disturbing ambient
noise and for detecting, localizing and classifying defects of the device which affect its
operational reliability and quality. At least two sensors monitor signals at arbitrary locations which are affected by signals emitted by defects and by ambient
noise sources. A source analyzer receives the monitored signals, identifies the number and location of the sources, separates defect and
noise sources, and analyzes the deterministic and stochastic
signal components emitted by each source. Defect and noise vectors at the outputs of the source analyzer are supplied to a defect classificator which detects invalid parts of the measurements corrupted by ambient noise, accumulates the valid parts, assesses the quality of the
system under test and identifies the physical causes and location of the defects.